Pediatricians have begun to look harder at Vitamin D levels in children because this vitamin, once thought to be primarily involved in calcium absorption, is now being shown to have significant implications for a variety of health conditions which manifest in later life. Read more >

With health care costs continuing to grow at a much higher rate than inflation, some policy makers have seized upon yet another technique they hope will restrain spending — "consumer-driven health care" in the form of "health savings accounts. Read more >

Off-label prescribing, also known as unapproved use, is the physician practice of prescribing a drug or medical device for a purpose different from one of the indications for which the product is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Read more >

Until recently, the drugs used for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), were introduced either through clinical observations or as a result of a lucky guess. Read more >

The Pure Food and Drug Act was enacted in 1906 in response, in large part, to unscrupulous marketing of adulterated foods and of patent medicines lacking in efficacy and often containing addictive or harmful substances. Read more >

Sexual relationships with patients are problematic, not only because they may be unethical and may compromise patient care, but because they may lead to civil actions for damages, criminal actions, and disciplinary proceedings by state medical boards. Read more >

A young woman who I recently treated, influenced by several reports in the local paper about beta-carotene's cancer and heart disease preventive benefits, began taking a single tablet of supplemental beta-carotene on a daily basis. Read more >

Drug abusers, alcoholics and overeaters may appear to be out of control but, actually, it's the opposite. Their brain chemistry, thrown out of balanceby substance abuse, is strongly dictating their behavior. Read more >